Every day, in every community, every child in America
benefits from a quality public education.
Public Education Network
Pennsylvania Education
Policy & Leadership Conference
March 29, 2007
To build public demand and mobilize resources for quality public education
for all children through a national constituency of local education funds and individuals.
Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit.
Public Education Network
Public Education Network (PEN) is a national
organization of local education funds (LEFs) and
individuals working to improve public schools and
build citizen support for quality public education in
low-income communities across the nation.
Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit.
A Powerful Base of Local Education Funds
United States
 82 members in 34 states,
plus the District of
Columbia and Puerto Rico
 11 million children
 1,600 school districts
 16,000+ schools
 7 of the top 10 cities
 17 of the top 25 cities
 Key states of:
Florida, Pennsylvania,
Tennessee, North
Carolina, Texas, Ohio,
and California
International
Mexico
 La Casa de La Ciencia
(reaches 1 million
children)
Peru
 Foro Educativo
(reaches 6 million
children)
Philippines
 Synergeia Foundation
(reaches 300,000
children)
Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit.
A Constituency of One Million Individuals
• 850,000 individuals
across LEF
communities
• 150,000 from PEN’s
online activists
• 100,000 volunteers
donate 1.5 million
hours annually totaling
$25 million dollars
Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit.
PEN History
From Projects to Systemic School Reform
1983
Public Education Fund
Created by
The Ford Foundation
19831991
Test the viability of
Community-Based School Reform
19911995
Five Interrelated Policy Areas
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School Finance
School Governance
Education Leadership
Curriculum and Assessment
Schools and Communities
19961999
Ten-Point Framework
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Technical Assistance for Capacity Building
Commitment
Standards and Outcomes
Assessments
Accountability
School Based Management
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Good Teachers
School Readiness
School Community Links
Technology
Public Engagement
Transformation and Growth
Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit.
20002005
Public Engagement
PEN’s Theory of Action
Systemic School Reform
(Building the Base)
Resource Power of the Network
•
Raise roughly $200
million annually to
improve public schools
and increase student
achievement
•
Raised nearly $4 billion
to date for quality public
education
•
Invested over $1.5 billion
in teacher quality
•
Donated over $2.5 billion
in volunteer time
Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit.
Civic Power of the Network

Leveraged roughly $13 billion
in public dollars by supporting
local bond and tax referenda,
state and local budget
increases, and litigation

Changed the composition and
improved the quality of school
boards in 50 school districts

LEF boards convene
educators, corporations,
philanthropies, and policy and
public officials to build
common ground
Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit.
Local Education Funds (LEFs)
What is an LEF?
•
Independent of their school districts
•
Professionally staffed with boards reflective of its community
•
Work in high-poverty areas (urban and rural)
•
Committed to whole system reform, to ensure a high quality
education for all children
Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit.
LEFs Advocate
Accountability
Advocates
PEN members advocate for
accountability—they expect
measurable results from all
those who participate in
local public education.
PEN members advocate for
excellence in public education
—they are independent
organizations that work with
public schools to make a
difference for all students.
Accountability
Involvement
Improvement
PEN members advocate for
community involvement—
they help put the public in
public education.
PEN members advocate for
improvement—they
encourage innovative
practices and programs that
make public education better.
Involvement
Advocates
Improvement
Resources
Resources
PEN members generate resources—they facilitate investment in public education
from private, public, and philanthropic sources.
Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit.
LEFs Work

To build infrastructure

To build leadership

To build knowledge

To build momentum for
innovation
Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit.
Outcomes of LEF Work

Establish a positive
environment for reform

Build school
community capacity

Create long-term
outcomes for youth,
families, and
communities
Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit.
Outcomes of LEF Work
Establish a positive
environment for reform

Public confidence

Committed school and
community actors

Shared agenda

Cross-constituency
alliances

High-quality ideas
Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit.
Outcomes of LEF Work
Build school community
capacity

District receptivity to ideas
from outside

Policies and programs
aligned with high-quality
ideas

Reach and depth of
implementation

Adequate resources
equitably distributed

Coordinated services

High-quality school
leadership and staff
Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit.
Outcomes of LEF Work
Create long-term outcomes for
youth, families, and
communities

Improved student
achievement

Economic development

Improved conditions for
families

Equity of opportunity and
conditions
Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit.
PEN’s Model of Public Engagement

Public responsibility is a means to lasting policy
change
 With public support, leaders and policies
have staying power, and school improvement
can work

Public responsibility is an end in itself in a
democracy

LEFs were charged with inspiring and equipping
their communities to take on three policy areas:
 Standards and accountability
 Schools and communities
 Teacher quality
Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit.
PEN’s Model of Public Engagement
Who is “the community”?
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Civic Leaders
 Superintendents, school boards, mayors, council
members, business leaders, labor leaders, state
officials
 Higher education
The Public-at-Large
 Grassroots participants in community dialogues
 Leadership trainees
Professional Service Providers
 Community-based organizations, health-service
providers, police departments, etc.
 School principals, central-office staff, teachers
Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit.
PEN’s Policy Initiatives
Using Public Engagement to Reform our Public Schools
Types of Results

Policy changes enacted

Practice changes achieved

Civic support gained from “grasstops” and
grassroots

New ways of working—collaborating, listening to the
public voice—adopted by other organizations

In Mobile, public responsibility grew and led to policy
and practice change within 3 years

In many other sites, public responsibility grew and
may lead to future policy change
Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit.
PEN’s Policy Initiatives
Using Public Engagement to Reform our Public Schools
Policy Changes Enacted

Election results
 Portland school board: defeat of anti-tax slate,
election of candidates with LEF ties
 Durham and Mobile bond issue

Programs addressing the achievement gap
 West Virginia’s HB 4669
 Durham Public Schools’ formal commitment
 Mobile’s accountability system for school results

New policies on teacher hiring and induction in
Seattle and the District of Columbia

Paterson school board resolution supporting
community schools
Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit.
PEN’s Policy Initiatives
Using Public Engagement to Reform our Public Schools
Practice Changes Achieved

Services delivered under Schools and Community:
 19 Community Learning Centers running in
Lincoln
 Aspects of community schools in place in 9
Lancaster schools
 Providence After-School Alliance, with Wallace
Foundation support, extending services citywide

Opportunities for teachers in New York and
Chattanooga, planned under this initiative, grew with
other philanthropic support
Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit.
PEN’s Policy Initiatives
Using Public Engagement to Reform our Public Schools
Civic Support Gained: Grasstops

As LEF board members, civic leaders learned about
public engagement as a strategy

Professional service providers and community
organizations convened to work together

ACORN entered the education field in DC and NJ

Universities joined in the work in Chattanooga,
Durham, Lancaster, Lincoln, and New York

Local philanthropy began to support community
schools (Lancaster, Lincoln) and community
engagement (Paterson, Seattle)
Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit.
PEN’s Policy Initiatives
Using Public Engagement to Reform our Public Schools
Civic Support Gained: Grassroots

Wider public participation in the discourse

Participants in community dialogues expressed
their views in Chattanooga, DC, Durham, Mobile,
New York, Paterson, Pennsylvania, Portland,
Seattle, and West Virginia
 Discussions were civil and rested on a norm
of mutual respect—conditions not always
present in these communities

Community members gathered and reported data
in DC, Mobile, and Paterson
Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit.
PEN’s Policy Initiatives
Using Public Engagement to Reform our Public Schools
A New Way of Working Modeled

LEFs join the civic infrastructure

Seattle’s school district and union have tried to
adopt the LEF’s approach to public dialogue

Paterson community organizations are more
inclined to work together and to listen to
community views

West Virginia leaders attended the LEF’s
Education Summit, listening to citizens
Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit.
PEN’s Scholars’ Forum
Using Public Engagement to Reform our Public Schools
PEN’s Scholars’ Forum: Why
PEN’s scholars’ forum on public engagement and
public education reform attempts to build the field.
PEN convened this forum because

Public engagement must be a prerequisite, not
an afterthought, of school reform. It is critical to
the sustainability of reform efforts.

Yet the literature on public engagement is
episodic and not well-developed. Public
engagement work by community-based
organizations has been little studied.

PEN is well positioned to elevate public
engagement as a critical element of systemic
public education reform.
Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit.
PEN’s Scholars’ Forum
Using Public Engagement to Reform our Public Schools
PEN’s Scholars’ Forum: Who
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The nation’s top researchers into a Scholars’
Forum on public engagement in public
education reform.
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The Forum’s 30 members represent many of
the country’s foremost experts in public
engagement, including professors from
education, sociology, political science, and
anthropology as well as community-based
researchers and practitioners.
Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit.
PEN’s Scholars’ Forum
Using Public Engagement to Reform our Public Schools
PEN’s Scholars’ Forum: How
Strategies:
1. Publish a reader that lays out the landscape
and analyzes the state of the field, including
evidence of effectiveness.
2. Mount new research studies to examine
critical, unanswered questions in the field.
3. Bring visibility to public engagement
strategies in the arenas of academia,
philanthropy, policy, and education reform.
Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit.
PEN’s Scholars’ Forum
Using Public Engagement to Reform our Public Schools
PEN’s Scholars’ Forum: RESULTS
Outcomes:
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PEN will have a robust body of work on the topic
of public engagement and education reform.
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Public engagement for public education reform
will be a field of study that continues to be
sustained and supported by the nation’s top
universities.
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The body of research coming out of PEN’s
Scholars’ Forum will inform the work of LEFs and
other advocates and the crafting of education
policy.
Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit.
Building a Constituency
For Public Education
Building the Campaign
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Expansion of the LEF network
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Research
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Public engagement initiatives
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NCLB hearings
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Civic Index
The Campaign Goal
Build a constituency of individuals that
use their voices and their votes to
achieve the goal of quality education for
every child.
Focus Groups
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We hosted 20 individual focus
groups/triads with over 130 different
individual respondents across the
demographic spectrum.
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Groups were held in Ohio, Texas,
California, Florida, Pennsylvania, and
Maryland.
What We Learned
People Believe
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EVERY child deserves a quality public education
at a good public school – not every child has
access.
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EVERY child can learn.
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EVERY person in the community has a ROLE to
play – although people say parents, teachers, and
students are most involved and are most
responsible.
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LOCAL elected officials are accountable for
quality public schools.
What People Say About
Education
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Every child deserves a quality public
education, but not every child is
receiving one.
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Every child can learn.
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Everyone in a community – not just
parents – has a ROLE to play.
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Local elected officials are accountable
for the quality of public schools.
2006 Education Poll Results
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Public education is the number one
concern among registered voters, along
with the war in Iraq.
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62% percent of voters say that
candidates are not focusing enough
on the issue of public education.
•
57% of Americans are frustrated and
concerned about public schools.
Call to Action & Platform
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Learn what you can do to
demand quality public schools
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Vote for quality public education
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Act by demanding change in
public education by engaging in
GKGS activities
2006 Review
Built the campaign brand
Launched the web site in late August
Completed Give Kids Good Schools Week
- 200 events in 25 states and DC
- 40 LEFS and 16 partners
participated
Reached 60 million people via:
- earned and paid media
- PSAs
- GiveKidsGoodSchools.org
Give Kids Good Schools
Web Site Statistics
Web traffic highlights (6 months after launch)
• 40,000+ visitors
• 200,000+ page views
• 5,700+ e-advocates
• 4,000+ orders for free materials
• 1,500+ pledge signatures
Advocacy emails sent
• Average open rate is 25%
(industry avg 2%)
Give Kids Good Schools
Week in 2006
Signed Proclamations:
Mobile, AL
Michigan
Denver, CO
Lincoln, NE
District of
Columbia
Houston, TX
Evansville, IN
Bridgeport, CT
Public Service Announcement
Public Service Announcement
2006 PSA Placements
2006 Media Coverage
Paid Media in 2006
Wrapping Up
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PEN conducted years of research to develop
the campaign.
The call to action platform is how PEN
engages activists in the campaign.
The media partnerships have been
invaluable to helping the campaign reach
more than 60M Americans.
Developed a strong policy agenda to activate
constituents
2007 promises to be even more successful
with new web upgrades and successful
partnerships.
Contact Us
Campaign Hotline (202) 628-GKGS or
info@givekidsgoodschools.org
Chrystal Morris
National Campaign Manager
(202) 628-7460
Cmorris@publiceducation.org
Emily Reynolds
National Campaign Associate
(202) 628-7460
Ereynolds@publiceducation.org
Every day, in every community, every child in America
benefits from a quality public education.
Public Education Network
To build public demand and mobilize resources for quality public education
for all children through a national constituency of local education funds and individuals.
Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit.